Page 35 of The Grumpy Actor

“It’s the same reason I write them,” Hilary, the screenwriter, adds. “When I first started reading them, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life creating worlds like that.”

“I just like how there’s always a happy ever after, or maybe even just a happy for now,” Tia, one of the supporting roles, says softly. I’ve barely heard her speak outside her role. “The world is tough enough already. When people get lost in feel-good romance movies, they’re able to put their troubled lives aside and just live in that moment.”

Hearing her say those words makes me feel bad about the view I’ve held about rom-coms all this time. It was wrong of me to think they weren’t doing anything tangible.

Compared to me, whose only reason for going into acting was to make money, these people are so much better.

I never knew I had such a warped view of the world.

The genuine smile on Sophie’s face as she listens to the conversations tells me she finds it just as heartwarming as I do.

In hindsight, Lara Jones’s challenge has helped me grow as an actor.

I grab Sophie’s hand. She turns to me, an inquisitive smile on her face.

“You haven’t eaten anything yet,” I say, pushing the pizza box toward her.

She smiles softly and takes a slice of pizza.

“Thank you.”

I watch her as she eats. It reminds me of the countless nights we spent surviving on pizza while studying for exams. She always had this same smile when she was eating.

“What about you, Liam?” Hilary asks. “What drew you to this script, since you don’t seem to like rom-coms much?”

“You can’t blame him. Only those who have fallen in love can truly appreciate the beauty of our world,” Celeste snickers.

I frown, feeling the jab of her words deep down.

“You don’t necessarily have to fall in love to appreciate it,” Tim says in my defense.

“Yeah. But the Liam Ryder we all know has never even had a serious relationship, so the topic might be out of his reach,” Kent adds.

“I’ve had a serious relationship,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

The snide remarks are getting to me more than I expected. It’s not a nice look, and I hate it.

I need to calm down.

I take a deep breath. “Not that I can call it love, though.”

The group laughs and resumes chatting like nothing is amiss. However, I feel the instant Sophie’s mood changes.

She grows stiff beside me, and I regret my words right away.

It’s the truth, though. I can’t call what we had back then love.

Sophie stands up and leaves the gathering before I can stop her. I follow her with my gaze, and when it dawns on me that she isn’t just going to get something but actually leaving, I stand up to follow her.

It doesn’t sit well with me that she’s mad. I need to make this right. I’ve already hurt her enough to last a lifetime.

Chapter 11

Sophie

IhonestlythoughtIwasin a better place after his apology this afternoon. I believed that nothing about Liam could get to me anymore.

I was wrong.

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